Announcing...

For those of you who don't know, Jess and I are pregnant! We're just shy of 15 weeks along. After several BAD days, which included two trips to the doctor for IV's to get her fluid levels up, she's feeling fine. Some mornings were tough for her to be to work by 8am, even when she wasn't feeling sick, because she has been SO tired! For those of you who know Jess, you know that she LOVES to sleep! The first few weeks it was common for her to come home from work and take a two hour nap, have dinner, then nap some more before bed! She is excited that she is now done with school for the year though. Our expected due date is November 28th, so we'll be adding another name to the long list of November birthdays in our family. But, we're excited for our Thanksgiving baby.

Our little Gummy Bear

Party Time! Excellent!

We had a party this weekend to celebrate my graduation. For my graduation present, Jess got me a new camera. It's a DSLR, which is different than a regular digital camera. I haven't had a chance to play with all of the settings yet, but here are just a few of the nearly 300 pictures I took this weekend.

The Ivans.

G&G B.

Classic Kate.

Daronius.

Kinda bright, but a good shot.

Being Silly.

Look at the glee in her face after hitting a child (Trin?) with a Frisbee!

Reach for it, Curtisius.

She's cute, huh?

Brynlee had fun playing with Naiya and Trin.

Here they are turning Naiya into a mermaid.

Nice snag, BJ.

Wayne and Heather came, they're our only non-family friends.

Sometimes Calin's throws were a little crazy, imagine that.

Yes, Kate threw that Frisbee at me!

But I got this one!

Hey look, someone else has the camera!

Nice grab!

Kate was my least objectionable subject this weekend.

Yes, an ear may double in size when struck by a Frisbee.

And even bleed!

I'm not sure that's exactly the best way to eat watermelon.

Caught in the cupboard!

Darin being Darin.

Kate being Kate.

Ivan being Ivan.

Naiya and Trin were hiding from me, this is Naiya's face when she realized I found them.

Naiya being Naiya.

Being silly with Curtis.

Mmm...Ice cream sundaes!

Playin' catch.

Kate learned to play catch!

Testing the close-up.

Ivan kept missing the slide as he backed up to sit down.

Pomp and Circumstance

Well folks, after nearly a year and close to 25,000 miles, graduate school has come to an end! I am now Dan Bruderer, MSW (Master of Social Work). Here are some pics from graduation last night (5/11). Now the job search begins (well, continues, I haven't heard back from the school district yet).

We made it!

Couldn't have done it without Jess

She loves me

Master Dan

Of course the diploma won't come for a few weeks

One Crazy Week

I took this shot with my phone while driving to work on 2/26.

After getting off work last Friday (2/26), I donated plasma then went to the public library to wait for Jess to get off work, so that we could go fulfill a sealing assignment. While I waited I ate a small bag of trail-mix. Apparently this was insufficient, because as I knelt during the assignment, I passed out. I fell straight backwards and hit my head of the floor. I was only out a few seconds and when I woke up I was SO hot! I could feel perspiration forming everywhere and there was a bit of a throb to the back of my head. I made it back to my chair and with the help of a couple glasses of water, made it through the rest of the session. Jess and I promptly went a got some dinner, and I was fine the rest of the night. This experience will not soon be forgotten, especially by my poor wife who was admittedly a little frazzled! Sorry, love!

Rexburg Idaho Temple - Taken 5/2008

As some of you may know, I grew up in a house with, among other pets, a dog and two cats. At the time, my eyes always bothered me, but I never linked it to the animals. In recent years I have come to the realization that I am, in fact, allergic to animals. My allergies don't discriminate. I have reactions to cats, dogs, horses, etc. It's not uncommon for hives to develop rather quickly after coming into contact with an animal, but usually only one or two, never like a full blown breakout or anything. The reactions are especially bad when I touch an animal and forget to wash my hands and then touch my eyes, such as taking out my contacts.

Not sure exactly when this was taken, probably late 2004.

Yesterday (3/4) I was reminded of just how bad my allergies can be. At my internship we have a staff meeting every morning. About 15 minutes into the meeting my eye began to bother me. This, also, isn't uncommon, as those of you who have seen me this winter know, because I have dry skin patches on both of my eyelids. I hadn't yet put ointment on the patches, which generally keeps me from rubbing/scratching the itch, so I decided to rub my left eye just a little to satisfy the urge. Big mistake. Within minutes I knew it was something bigger than just dry skin, as it continued to itch and water. When a coworker across the table did a double-take when he glanced in my direction I knew I should excuse myself. So I did. When I got to the restroom, I was shocked to see how bad it was! It looked like I had been punched in the eye (or hit with a pillow - Dave)! The skin above and below my eye was red and swollen and the eye itself was far more than blood-shot. I took out my contact and rinsed the eye, but to no avail. I put in eye drops, but it continued to itch/burn. I decided that nothing I could do at work would alleviate the situation, so I went to tell my boss I was leaving. Her office door was closed, so I turned to the administrative assistant who immediately said "Oh my gosh, what happened to your eye?!?" I explained that I was having an allergic reaction and that I was leaving. When I got to the car, I took these pictures with my phone which do not do it justice.

Sorry for the extreme close-up.

Are your eyes watering yet?

I must have picked up an allergen somewhere between home and work, and once I touched my eye it was all over. I went home, took out my contacts and popped a couple Benadryl and settled in for a long day at home, since I wasn't even at work an hour when this happened! After a few hours all of the redness/swelling were gone.

I'm not sure that I ever blogged about it, but a month or two ago I had an interesting experience at the plasma center. The phlebotomist stuck me, but the needle needed a little adjustment. As he was doing so, he pulled it a little too far and actually out of my vein, which resulted in blood squirting out and all over the machine. What's your first reaction when something springs a leak? You plug it! That's just what the surprised phlebotomist did, by shoving the needle back in! After a little clean up the rest of the donation went smoothly and I was back in for my next routine donation the following week.

This was taken with my phone in 11/2008.

Well, this morning (3/5) the same thing happened at the center. The phlebotomist stuck me, adjusted the needle, a leak sprung, and was thus plugged. The guy sticking me handled it pretty well and was not nearly as surprised as the last guy to do that, even though it was the first time it had happened to either of them. While he went to get the cleaner, I snapped this shot with my phone and the rest of the donation went smoothly.

Just missed my pants and computer!

But the fun was not over! After I finished donating and my arm was wrapped (by the same phlebotomist) I walked toward the window to get paid. As I was doing so, I looked down at the arm I had just used to donate, which I happened to be using to carry my computer. Someone call a plumber, we've got another leak! This time I soaked through both of the cotton pads he put on and out the top of the wrap. I had two trails of blood streaming down my arm and onto the lid of my computer! I set the laptop on an empty bed an was escorted to the sink where I was un/re wrapped and washed off my arm. I'm happy to report that in both cases my clothes escaped without so much as a drop of blood on them! I told the guys at the center I was glad that I could add a little excitement to their Friday.

So, now I sit at the public library, in the same chair as last Friday, waiting for Jess to get off work. Perhaps I should get some lunch?!?

A Few Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, these pictures were all taken with my phone, of things that I found humorous or that otherwise enticed me to capture them. Hopefully you'll be able to enlarge these, as I'm unable to zoom on my phone. The pictures are in no particular order (definitely not chronologically), especially since Blogger loads them all in reverse order.

This was the scene in front of a house in Rexburg. In the center of the photo you can see a cannon and a stack of cannon balls.

Hard to see, but the second full snowman from the left has a hole from the cannon

Jaguar hood ornament mounted on a late 90's Ford Ranger (Which has since been removed, possibly stolen)

You know the state is in financial trouble when this is the ice scrapper in a state car

Hard to tell, but this is the top of the steering wheel in the same car, worn down to the metal!

Out the back door at the Squires'

Taken a week or two ago while driving to work

I should probably fill up

This is something dead, a K-9 of some sort, that I came across while 4-wheeling on the hill behind the Squires'

Wait, so THOSE wires could kill me?!? (Taken while 4-wheeling)

A "crop-circle" on the backside of the hill

July 16, 2009

When I'm in Twin Falls I stay with Jess' aunt, who has two 18 y/o boys and a 14 y/o daughter. These signs were on the door of the pantry

Make sure you hold on tight when pull-starting the 4-wheeler (My thigh)

I could have sworn it was the 14th

A Topaz, just like the one I used to drive (although this one has one Tempo tail-light)

Who knew Hollywood video dealt in kids!

January 21, 2010 (In Twin, clearly not Rexburg)

Ford Econoline, similar to the one we had growing up

Yes, that snowwoman is pregnant. And yes, that pig, with a syringe in its butt that says "H1N1" is being held up by red, white and green balloons, the same colors as the Mexican flag (blame much?). (Doctor's office in Rexburg)

Only at K-Mart is "clearance" considered items priced between $1.99 and seven hundred dollars!